Former NBA star-turned sports analyst Charles Barkley tore into conservatives who boycotted Bud Light following the beer brand's controversial partnership with transgender social media star Dylan Mulvaney.
Barkley is a longtime LGBTQ+ ally.
He was recently spotted at a California bar in Harrah's Lake Tahoe Casino & Resort buying the crowd a round of drinks and expressing solidarity with the queer and transgender community.
He then went on an expletive-laden diatribe leveled at "rednecks or a**holes" who refuse to drink Bud Light.
TikToker @I._banana filmed and posted video footage of Barkley addressing the crowd, telling them he was going to buy them drinks and that his beverage of choice was going to be a Bud Light.
After eliciting mixed reactions in the room, Barkley said:
“Hey, let me tell you something. All you rednecks or a**holes who don’t want to drink Bud Light, f'k y’all."
"Hey, y’all can’t cancel me!”
He continued:
“Hey, I ain’t worried about getting canceled because let me tell you something, if y’all fire me and give me all that money, I’m gonna be playing golf every f'king day."
"So listen, as I said last night, if you’re gay, God bless you. If you’re trans, God bless you."
"And if you have a problem with them–f'k–you."
You can watch the clip here.
@l._banana Visit TikTok to discover videos!
In another clip, Barkley told the rowdy crowd:
“I want y'all to drink this f'king beer."
"I got three cases of Bud Light."
"Hey, and I want to say this."
“If you are gay, bless you. If you are trans, bless you."
“If you have a problem with that, f**k you.”
Here's the clip.
@l._banana Visit TikTok to discover videos!
Social media users raised their glasses.
The Bud Light controversy began on April 1, 2023 when transgender actor Dylan Mulvaney–who has 1.8 million Instagram followers–posted a video on her page promoting a Bud Light contest tied to the March Madness promotion sponsored by the brand.
Transphobic conservatives who used to be fans of the beer were enraged and attacked Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch for being "woke" and for getting politically involved.
There has been an uptick of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation from GOP lawmakers proposing to strip away the rights of queer and transgender people introduced and signed into law.
But LGBTQ+ consumers and allies were also disappointed when in response to the conservative backlash, Bud Light unceremoniously pulled back on LGBTQ+ marketing efforts–essentially turning their backs on the community as threats against them from far-right groups intensified.
The scandal prompted two marketing executives at Bud Light's parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev to take a leave of absence.
By June 17, sales of Bud Light saw a significant decline of 26% compared with the same time last year.
Mulvaney called out the beer company for abandoning her and said she had faced “more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined” following the backlash to Bud Light's partnership with her.
@dylanmulvaney Trans people like beer too. 🏳️⚧️🍻
She said in a TikTok video:
"For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse in my opinion than not hiring a trans person at all because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want."
“And the hate doesn’t end with me, it has serious and grave consequences for the rest of our community.”
